As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. An option is an Information Handling System (IHS). An IHS generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements may vary between different applications, IHSs may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in IHSs allow for IHSs to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, global communications, etc. In addition, IHSs may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
A wide variety of IHSs are now mobile IHSs. Due to their mobility, mobile IHSs may be used in a wide variety of physical environments. The continuing integration of computers, such as mobile IHSs, into an increasing number and variety of workplace and recreational settings results in mobile IHSs being used in harsh outdoor conditions, as well as various commercial and industrial settings that may subject the mobile IHS to heavy use, various contaminants and harsh environments. In addition, the manner of use of mobile IHSs in such conditions results in a high chance a mobile IHS may be dropped or otherwise subjected to violent physical forces. Providing durability for such rugged IHSs adapted to functioning reliably in extreme conditions requires a variety of specialized design features designed to protect the rugged IHS from the physical environment. For instance, the enclosure of such rugged IHSs may be sealed such that the enclosure is dust tight and water tight, thus protecting the internal components of the IHS from contaminants and water, and in some cases pressurized water.
Components of an IHS consume electrical power and can generate significant amounts of heat. Heat within an IHS may degrade the reliability and performance of various internal components of the IHS, possibly resulting in costly malfunctions and component failures. In order to ventilate heated air out of the IHS and away from internal components, an IHS may utilize a cooling fan. For IHSs that are not designed for rugged use, cooling fans can draw ambient air directly into the internal compartments of the IHS in order to ventilate heated air away from heat dissipating components installed within these internal compartments of the IHS. In a rugged IHS, the heat-generating electrical components may be installed within a sealed internal compartment of the IHS that is physically isolated from an ambient air source. The inability to utilize forced ambient air cooling within such sealed internal compartments of rugged IHSs significantly restricts the cooling capacity of rugged IHSs.